STEC upbeat after boost from private sector projects
Play
SINO-THAI Engineering and Construction is upbeat about keeping its profit growing this year after new orders for construction projects placed mostly by corporations jumped 20 per cent, to make up for a likely drop in jobs from the government because of de
“Of the electric train projects to be put up for bidding this year, only those under the State Railway of Thailand [SRT] are likely, while those under the Mass Rapid Transit Authority [MRT] may not happen this year,” Pakpoom Srichamni, president of Stecon, said on Saturday.
The SRT’s 10-kilometre Rangsit-Thammasat University Rangsit Campus section of the Dark Red Line is expected to open for bidding by the year-end.
The contracts for the Light Red Line’s 25.5km Bang Sue-Hua Mark section and the 22km extension of the Airport Rail Link from Phya Thai to Don Muang via Bang Sue are also expected to be tendered this year, according to the government’s announcement.
The MRT’s projects are not proceeding as smoothly as targeted. The 20km Thailand Cultural Centre-Min Buri route of the Pink Line has been waiting for Cabinet approval since the beginning of this year. There is now a possible postponement if the line is changed from a monorail to a heavy rail system.
“Some questions were raised. The monorail system may be now not workable, as other countries no longer use this technology,” he said.
The Orange Line project could also be stalled. The 21km Taling Chan-Min Buri route passes the Ratchaprarop-Pratunam area and affected communities are protesting against it. Its construction schedule may slip from this year, according to the latest data.
The government is considering |whether to adjust the route for the Din Daeng Station-Thailand Cultural Centre section.
For other projects like motorways and Suvarnabhumi Airport, it was not clear when they would be made available for bidding, Pakpoom said.
Stecon shifted its focus to the private sector last year, as it hopes to see good prospects after this year. STEC’s revenue is evenly split between government and private construction work.
“We expect to add Bt30 billion to our Bt50 billion backlog. Most of the jobs from private firms are related to buildings and power, not condominiums,” he said.
Last year, STEC earned Bt1.52 billion on revenue of Bt21.95 billion, compared to Bt1.73 billion on Bt22.95 billion a year earlier.
Though eing the third-largest SET-listed construction firm by assets, STEC recently spent about Bt800 million on another precast concrete plant on 225 rai of land in Nonthaburi to supply expressway and railway projects.
Pakpoom said after the inauguration last weekend that the precast plant, which now runs at 70-80 per cent of capacity of 10,000 concrete-block segments a year, could supply three rail lines at the same time.
Initially, the plant was set for two of the company’s projects, the Srirat Outer Ring Road and the Blue Line’s 10.5km Tha Phra-Lak Song section.
“As the new plant is 60km from Bangkok, this could be translated into a transport cost savings of about Bt100 million, compared with the first plant in Chon Buri,” he said.
The company is also looking for other companies to become customers of the precast concrete-block segments, he added.
